1st Quarter Betting – Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets

The BetOnline Sportsbook is offering special per quarter betting on tonight’s Cavaliers/Wizards and Jazz/Nuggets matchups. To find these bets, go to list of sports at the left hand side of the main sportsbook page and click on Basketball. Under “NBA” you’ll find links to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarter bets along with the regular game and 1st half betting lines. It’s worthwhile going through all the different lines, and there are a lot of decent bets, but to save you time I’ve scoured through them all and found the NBA betting line that stands out from the rest.

The Jazz go to Denver in a game that has serious playoff ramifications. Denver is currently slotted in the two seed, only half a game ahead of the Spurs. The Houston Rockets are only a further half game back. It’s essential that the Nuggets hang on to at least the 3 seed in order to avoid a second round matchup with the Lakers. I’m looking for Denver to come strong out of the gate in this statement game; I expect the Jazz to be a bit shell-shocked and lose the 1st quarter by at least a couple. But don’t just take my word for it, here are the relevant betting lines and statistics and trends that you need to make your own decision:

Spread:

• Utah Jazz +1.5pt -115

• Denver Nuggets -1.5pts -115

1st Quarter Betting Trends:

• The Jazz have a +0.2 point differential in the 1st quarter this season.

• The Nuggets have a +1.4 point differential in the 1st quarter this season.

• The Jazz have a -2.6 point differential on the road in the 1st quarter.

• The Nuggets have a +2.5 point differential at home in the 1st quarter.

• The Nuggets are 2-1 against the Nuggets in the 1st quarter this season.

• The Nuggets have a +5.3pt differential in the 1st quarter in those three matchups.

Analysis: If you look at the overall 1st quarter point differentials you’ll see two pretty even teams. The Nuggets are slightly better, +1.4 vs. +0.2, but that’s nothing overwhelming. The really valuable information comes when you look at the home/away point differentials. Like most teams Denver is a better team at home and the Jazz are dramatically worse on the road. These trends are particularly pronounced in the first quarter. Compare the Jazz’s -2.6 differential with the Nuggets’ +2.5. If we were looking at those numbers alone we’d expect about a 5pt Denver 1st quarter victory. And in fact, over their previous three meetings this season, the Nuggets average a +5.3pt differential in the first quarter, and that’s including a game in Utah. Now I’m not saying that the Nuggets should be 5pt favorites, but giving up only one and half points makes the Nuggets a great bet.

NBA Pick:

• Denver Nuggets -1.5 -115 (1st Quarter Handicap)